"Obama campaign is out with a brutal new ad in Ohio"

The Morning Plum: Romney following Axelrod’s script to the letter

By Greg Sargent

For a year now, Obama advisers have believed that Mitt Romney’s pedigree, business background, lower tax rates, offshore accounts and silver-foot-in-mouth tendencies present exactly the wrong profile to run up the vote totals he needs among blue collar whites to win the presidency, potentially enabling Obama to survive a terrible economy. Back when Romney was still locked in a battle with Rick Perry, Obama advisers were telling people about their plans to paint Romney as a corporate predator who prioritizes profits over jobs and communities, is out of touch with what ordinary folks are going through, thinks keeping taxes low on the rich is the answer to everyone’s problems, and keeps his own rates low via murky international financial dealings.

What’s remarkable is how closely Romney himself has voluntarily hewed to the script produced for him.

On Friday, Romney released his 2011 tax returns, but only revealed an average rate paid from 1990-2009. Even some Republican strategists are questioning this move, as well as his broader refusal not to come clean earlier, claiming it allows Dems to continue raising questions about Romney’s offshore accounts and about what he may be hiding about his own low rate. Romney’s dismissive comments about the freeloading 47 percent were perfectly tailored to the narrative the Obama camp has been spinning. And now the Obama campaign is out with a brutal new ad in Ohio, which has a big population of blue collar whites, weaving those strands together:

1. Great ad!

21. I still say

This "show me your tax returns" is missing the point.

The question should be "Should Mitt, and others in the financial community be able to pay such an incredibly low rate? Even SS recipients pay 15% with employers' contribution, considered part of the employees' wages. Add onto that, federal, state, property, utility, sales, and gas, and a few others, you've got regular wage people paying huge sums by comparison?

And should tax-evasion be ignored? Sure, I guess it's technically illegal. But should our government NOT make this avoidance scheme, and others, illegal?

I'd add, should people be able to avoid taxes just by giving to charity. If you are giving just to get tax cuts, when our country desperately needs them, then what is so great about giving to charity, as you are just giving to yourself.

31. Charity deductions

I can't say that people giving to charity is a bad thing - that would be ridiculous!! Charities are ostensibly there to help those that need it most, those that are falling through the cracks, etc. The only problem I have is when people give to what is SUPPOSED to be charities that are NOT - like the Mormon church. They are faaarrrrrrr from acting like a charity. Even the stuff that is given to the poor in other countries is given with a recruitment drive sort of thing. Plus, huge chunks of donations are being used to fund all kinds of commercial business ventures that are WAYYYYYYYYY outside the realm of what is supposed to be tax-free church business.

7. Very succinct, just the right tone.

8. This ad misses one major point that should have been the centerpiece of the ad:

That he's the ONLY presidential candidate in ....howevermany years....that has REFUSED to release his tax records, and they need to suggest that he has something to hide, because most of us KNOW he has something to hide.

I'm glad some journalists are finally hitting hard on what DUers figured out from the git-go: That RMoney benefitted from the amnesty allowed to those who were sheltering income overseas so they didn't have to pay taxes in the US.

10. They can only put so much in one ad.

46. Your 'centerpiece' statement is not true...

"he's the ONLY presidential candidate in ....howevermany years....that has REFUSED to release his tax records"

That is untrue, loudsue. Mitt released two years worth of tax returns. How does that become refusing to release his tax records? Romney released the same amount as John McCain did in 2008, two years. Obama didn't have a problem with McCain, but he does with Romney. I'm voting for Obama, but I'm just sayin'.

13. Great ad...

14. Now that's getting down to brass tacks!

Thanks for sharing this ad with us.
Nobody is running any kind of ads here, so I have no idea what is being said on tv in the battleground states.

Last week I got a robocall that said Romney's supporters were starting a petition to stop President Obama from giving the terrorists who attacked our embassies in the Middle East any more money, after they said that President Obama had given them $1.5 Billion dollars of our taxpayer dollars to attack our embassies.

It was totally Twilight Zone shit.
I have never been robocalled by the Republicans ever before.
I don't know how they got my phone number.

So, when I heard that phone message, I almost called Ed Schultz to complain about it.
So, he could talk about how low the Romney campaign has gone in their efforts this year to trash the President of the United States.
But, I figured that people like Ed, Rachel, and Lawrence have already heard about those kinds of calls from Romney's supporters.

18. well put and accurate.

19. Another ad could also serve to drive this point even farther

in answer to the Rmoney ad which claims Obama soft on China,jobs...
The point is how Obama has lost so many jobs...well the fact is Rmoney outsourced more jobs to China through Bain than Bush created...
..But this ad about the 47% is an out of the park...

20. Always seems to hurt more when it's true!

Man that seems below the belt but it's the truth! How does he even get out of bed in the morning? We've all said stupid things and most of us are quick to realize it was a mistake and apologize but this guy is running with it. He really doesn't get what a fool he sounds like to real people. Oh well, thanks GOP.

24. Excellent. Its good they are not letting up on the tax returns.

25. You know what ad I'd like to see on cable teevee?

People who've been trashed by the depression and banks and insurance companies state briefly how they've been adversely affected and they end with the punchline, "You Republican politicians are assholes."

Over and over. "You Republican politicians are assholes."

I don't care that it would put the RW propaganda machine into a frenzy. That line--"You Republican politicians are assholes."--can only ring true to the 99%, Republican voters included.

32. Um, the Romney quote is out of context.

The "My job is not to worry about those people" clearly refers to trying to get their votes, not looking out for them after the election. This sort of thing just gives ammunition to the folks who want to say, "They all do it."

When the truth is bad enough (and the truth here is that he implied that all Obama voters are welfare recipients of some sort), there's no need to lie.

40. I don't think it's out of context, but even if it IS

He is still staying he only cares for the votes of a certain segment of the population. What if Obama went around saying his "job" was only to care about the black vote, or the white vote, or the young vote-- or any category?

If your perception is the correct one, is his saying he only cares about the votes of certain people any better?